Age editor apologises for ‘offensive’ cartoon on people of colour
The Sunday Age cartoon.
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By James Madden
7:35AM February 1, 2023
The new editor of The Age has been forced to deliver an apology on his first day in the job, following a social media outcry over the newspaper’s publication of an #illustration that depicted two black female actors.
Patrick Elligett, who started as editor of the Victorian-based masthead this week, ran an “un#reserved” apology online on Monday and again in Tuesday’s newspaper, conceding that a cartoon that ran in the print editions of The Sunday Age on January 29 was “offensive”.
The illustration, drawn by Joe Benke and based on a photograph of the two women, shows the actors performing on stage as theatre critics look on. “The Age accepts that the cartoon, in its depiction of people of colour, was offensive. The Age apologises unreservedly and withdraws its publication,” read the apology.
The illustration is no longer visible in the masthead’s online library of past print editions. It has also been deleted from the edition of the newspaper that appears on the State Library of Victoria’s website.
Elligett did not respond to questions from The Australian about which specific aspects of the cartoon were “offensive”, nor did he answer on whether there were any editorial discussions about perceived racist stereotypes before the cartoon was published, or whether it was ultimately removed because of the backlash on social media.
The online outcry, led by community theatre group Stage a Change, was swift. In a post on its Facebook page on Sunday, Stage a Change, which was founded in 2017 with the aim of “increasing, amplifying and sustaining professional opportunities for artists of colour”, described The Age’s caricature of the actors as “abhorrent” and “disgusting”.
A campaign against the cartoon and accompanying opinion piece by The Age’s arts editor Elizabeth Flux gathered momentum on Twitter on Monday and the masthead published its apology on its Twitter page that night, and again in Tuesday’s print edition.
Benke told The Australian he “obviously never intended” to offend the actors. He said he “didn’t excessively caricature” the two actors, and had drawn them from a photograph of them performing in the production of Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner.
Benke said he was informed by a senior editorial figure at The Age that his cartoon would be withdrawn because “it had created a bit of a storm”, and his depiction of the women was “not approved of by others” – that is, people outside the newsroom.
Benke said it was “difficult to illustrate persons of colour without getting into hot water”.
“Next time I guess I’ll just have to draw them as silhouettes or something,” he said.
Award-winning Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight, who sparked global outrage in 2018 over his depiction of tennis star Serena Williams’s infamous tantrum at the US Open, defended Benke’s work and took aim at The Age for not backing him. “The only offensive thing about this is the fact that the newspaper withdrew the cartoon. The Age has no balls, they have gone to water on this,” Knight said.
“Poor old Joe Benke, he’s been hung out to dry for just doing his job. He’s drawn two people as he’s seen them, and The Age has backtracked at the first whiff of outrage. The irony of it – the slogan at the top of their newspaper says ‘Independent. Always’. They pretend that’s their guiding principle but when it comes down to it, they don’t actually follow it.”
While The Age (owned by Nine Entertainment) withdrew Benke’s illustration, it is standing by the commentary piece by Flux, who outlined how the producers of Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner refused to “accommodate” any reviewers who weren’t people of colour.
“The author of the article, arts editor Elizabeth Flux, was not aware of the cartoon prior to its publication in the print edition and was not involved in its commissioning. We stand by the decision to publish Flux’s opinion and remain committed to publishing commentary and reporting on issues of race and identity within the arts. The Age condemns the abuse directed at Flux on social media,” Elligett said.
Cartoon Withdrawn
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